Haibun by Neal & Elaine Whitman
5/12/12
Japanese Friendship Garden
San Jose California
PLAY > “TILTING TOWARD THE SUN”
Tilting Toward the Sun
On a spring morning, we enter the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose, California – husband and wife, haiku poet and photographer. I had been invited to recite haiku there that afternoon. But, the morning is ours –– ours to practice our respective arts. I make notes – – – fleeting moments in time / the ah-ness of mid- spring. She takes note – still life in each frame / the such-ness of a May day. For each of us, one thing happens at a time and captures our attention – we show it with word or image. A rule of haiku: two things that do and do not go together. Resonance. A rule of composition: two subjects that cause the viewer to look back and forth. Reverberation. The haiku poet’s path is never straight: where will it end? The photographer takes aim and looks for a vanishing point: where does it lead? The poem not read is unfinished. The photograph not seen is undeveloped. All art is an offer made, a gift.
the gate unlocked –
a morning cool and calm
opens our eyes
open at ten
early arrivals
first in line
her suggestion:
take your time
spring outing
arms akimbo
centering my attention
below the surface
the pine tree
hovering over the pond
my own reflection
set in stone
a haiku tablet
my poem adrift